In a society that refuses to step off the consumer treadmill, everything comes with a price tag. Eventually, everyone pays the price. Quite like in the hospitality industry, which costs dearly to not just those chasing good times but even the ones serving them. A recent study by a health app Welltory once again spotlights the inherent stress and work-life imbalance permeating the hospitality and leisure sector.
The study, while examining how work-life balance, layouts, recruitments, attrition rates and workload are shaping stress levels in different sectors, places the hospitality industry right on top of all the others, including education, healthcare, business, transport industries. Not the only survey or research study to point in the similar direction. Ever since American celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain’s death by suicide in 2018, the food and hotel industries have found themselves increasingly under critical scrutiny.
“How could a man with the best job in the world commit suicide?” questioned all those who envied Bourdain’s seemingly perfect life with work that entailed traveling, exploring new cultures, tasting, preparing and writing about cuisines and food. What was considered bizarre and impossible to most of his fans was nothing implausible for the industry insiders.
The burnout, stress and deadlines aren’t just regular workplace conversations but an integral part of the hotel, food and hospitality businesses.
Welltory study’s assessment of top nine most high-pressure careers of 2026 is based on data from across the United States of America and 16 million users. In an effort to understand the workplaces better, the study also looks into the emotional and physical tolls on professionals in the field. “What this data shows is that workplace stress is driven by how work is designed, not just the nature of the job itself. Long hours, understaffing, injury risk, and financial pressure, all point to an underlying problem,” said Dr Anna Elitzur, mental health expert associated with the app. She further points out that when it comes to the effects of stress, the human brain does not distinguish between physical danger, money worries or information overload. “To your body it’s all the same kind of stress. The response is identical—elevated cortisol, faster heart rate, and accumulated fatigue.”
While Bourdain’s personal struggles are to partly blame for the suicide, the job stressors were not ruled out either. During his early years of working in restaurants in New York City, he developed an addiction to opiates. Again, fitting into the grey shades largely clouding the entire industry.
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The UK's hospitality sector and thereby the hospitality staff, is crumbling for a completely different set of reasons and economic pressures. Job losses, wage cuts, understaffing leading to irregular hours summing up the UK's hospitality industry all of last year. A trade body for the hospitality industry, UK Hospitality shares, “All of hospitality is hit disproportionately hard by increases to business rates. Hotels are facing a 115 per cent increase and pubs a 76 per cent increase, compared to just 17 per cent for distribution warehouses and 4 per cent for large supermarkets.”
In one of the studies, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found restaurant employees to be the most prone to substance abuse, including alcohol and drugs. The said study attributes high levels of drug use in the restaurant industry to several factors, including high-stress environments, irregular work schedules and relatively young labour pool. The study further highlights that substance abuse is not confined to a specific type of restaurant and runs through fast food chains, casual dining spaces and fine dining restaurants. Chefs and kitchen staff associated with Michelin-starred restaurants battle their own demons with alcohol and substance abuse as a coping mechanism.
According to a study titled The Shift Towards Retention, 85 per cent of hospitality employees experienced common symptoms of poor mental health showing up through depression, anxiety and stress. The study, conducted in the UK, states that only 24 per cent of employees get two consecutive days off once every fortnight on average, with one in 10 only getting that every two months.
When stress becomes chronic, it takes a toll and creates a ripple effect that goes far beyond individual burnout. Adds Dr Elitzur, “It stops being an individual problem. It becomes a systemic issue—visible in high turnover rates, declining productivity and a workforce that’s less adaptable and healthy.”
In an industry built around the buzzwords of customers’ expectations and guest experience, employees' well-being becomes paramount and it’s time the hospitality industry both realised it and figured a system around it.
By Manpriya Singh
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